Self-aligning bearing and method of making the same



g c. CLAUS SELF ALIGNING BEARING AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed 001;.1. 1926 1 I TOR. '6 iZaS Y self-lubricating type,

Patented Aug. 9, 1927.

cm CLAU'S, OI PLAINTIELD,

BEAR-DIG oonm, OI BOUND 3300!, m

JERSEY.

m JERSEY, ASSIGIIOB '10 aom 3300K OIL-8S m, A CORPORATION 01' mm sm-auonme BEARING m IZOD OI we m sum.

Application filed October 1, 1086. lei-1A1 lo. 188,.-

My invention relates in general tobearm and their manufacture and has reference more particularly to self-aligning bearing constructions and methods of making the same. I

In my copending applications for U. S. Patents for self-aligning bearing constructions, filed May 19, 1926, Serial Nos. 110, 117, 110, 118, and 110, 119, I disclose ballshaped composition bearing bushings, of the and having a spherical outer contour or periphery, also the method of makin the same. This composition bushing may fie made of compressed metal owders and the article heat-treated, har ened and impregnated with lubricating oil which is taken into the pores, and then reduced to final size by a peculiar sizing operation, both the formation and sizing of which bushing may be carried out in accordance with the descriptions in my pending applications for patents, filed October 26, 1923, Serial Nos. 671,032 and 671,033, and the material used may be the roduct disclosed in my pending applicatlon for patent, filed May 26, 1923, Serial No. 112,404, as I find that the same is especially well adapted for use as a bushing inserted in the ball-shaped steel ada ter herein set forth. The self-aligm ing bushings of composition material above referred to in my said applications, are referably seated am a correspondingly allshaped socket in order to provide self-alignment movement of the bushing, and the outer socket or casing is made of steel or other hard metal which has suflicient strength to withstand pressing into a cylindrical bore or housing without'changing the ball-shaped seat or socket.

Another means for obtaining a self-aligning bearing of the self-lubricating porous type is set forth in another application for patent. filed by me on even date herewith, wherein a soft-rubber shell or supporting member is molded directly on the exterior of the bushing of porous metal composition, and the yielding properties of the rubber, especiall when favored with a suitable shape 0 the outer casing or shell permit a,

certain self-alignment. Rubber or other material of similar elastic properties has also been adopted in order to permit variations in the size of the housing into which the bushings are to be pressed.

In making bushin which are to be pressed into steel tu ing such as is used for steering masts or columns of automobiles, for instance, I have found that I can obtain a self-alignin construction by forming the bushing wit a convexed periphery of spherical or approximately spherical form, and then pressing the bushing into a c lindricaltube having a smaller bore size t an the diameter of said s herical form of periphery. In doing so I ave found that the tubing expands sufliciently to provide in the tube wall a socket or seat which retains the bushing in place therein and at the same time permits it .to align itse1f..

Such variations as found in the bore sizes of commercial seamless tubing are not objectionable when pressing these bushings into place and it is, therefore, not necessary to roam these tubings. While bushings consisting of steel, bronze and other metals can be used for this purpose, '1 refer to use these metals for the outer she I or bushingsup ort only and to make the inner lining or ushing of the bearing of a good bearing material such as high lead and bronze. The best results I have obtained have been with the use of the self-lubricating porous metal composition type of material such as that described in my pending applications hereinabove referred to. This is used as a cylindrical lining for an outer member or shell which is of a more compression-resisting material, such as steel tubing, for instance.

In order to make the entire invention clearer, I have illustrated herewith an embodiment of the same in a steering mast structure for automobiles. In thesaid illustrations- Fig. 1 shows a view of a longitudinal section of a device embodyin my improvements with the contained s aft shown in elevation; and

' extending Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the device shown in Fig. 1, the plane of the section being indicated by the dotted hne 2-2 1n fieferrin to the drawin s,-1 indicates a cylindricalfiiushing in the re of which is journaled the shaft 2. The bushin i s preferably of the composite self-lu meeting porous metal type such as described in m said pending applications and which wi take up a comparatively large amount of lubricating oil or grease for the automatic lubrication of the bushing. The bushinfi after being finished to size in respect to a of its dimensions is inserted snugly within the bore of a shell or supporting member 3 of a harder metal such as steel or bronze. The exterior of the member 3, is made convex around its periphery and in spherical form or substantially so, as indicated at 4, and with the bushing fitting tigblztly within the bore of the supporting mem r, the two parts act as a unit. I then take the tube 5, which is of harder metal than the material of the bushing and has a bore which is under size when compared with the diameter of the spherical periphery of the'supportingmember. and insert the unitary device, comprising the supportin -member and its linmg or bushing, into t e interior of the tube with sufiicient force to ex and the tube laterally and form in its wal a circular seat 6, around the interior of the tube and having a counter art formation to the spherical surface of t e member 2, as indicated in the drawings. By adopting this simple method of constructing t e device, the necessary seat for the supporting-member to rock in for the purpose of sel -alignment, is in fact automatically formed by the operation of forcing the supporting-member into its desired lace of location in the tube. I find that un er this condition of the expanded interior of the tube by the entering process of the supporting-member, the latter remains in place and functions fully as a self-aligning element.

It will be noted that the supporting-member or shell 3, resists compression under force more than the encasing tube 5, so that when the member is forced therein, the material of the tube is expanded by the stronger element and thus there is easily formed therein a seat of sufficient area to accommodate the spherical eriphery of the supporting-member. Whi e the construction of the tube at the seat therein is sufiicient to'hold the supporting-member in operative position therein, it is not of suificient tension to check the desired rocking movement of the supporting-member or in any way interfere with its functions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a self-alignin bearing construction, a bearing device in w 'ch the shaft may be journaled, said device havin a spherical periphery, and a tube into w ch said device is forcibl inserted so as to expand the tube wall am? form therein a seat for the spherical periphery of saiddevice.

2. In a self-aligning bearing construction, a bushingl of the self-lubricating type in which a s aft may be journaled, a supporting-member or shell in the bore of which the bushing is disposed, said member bein of harder material than the bushing an having a rounded periphery, and a tube capable of yielding more than said supporting-member under pressure and having a lesser interior diameter than the exterior diameter of said member, the said member being capable of being forced into said tube to expand it and to form thereby an annular seat in the interior of the tube wall for pleating the rounded periphery of said mem- 3. In a self-aligning bearing construction, a bushing of com site orous metal a su porting-mem r of arder metal than said ushing, said member having the bushing set therein and the periphery of said member being convexed and substantially spherical, a tube constructed to yield under pressure more than said supportmg-member and having a smaller bore than the diameter of the spherical convexity of the supportingmember, said su porting-member being forcibly entered wi the bore of the tube and causing it to expand into a seat formation for the spherical part of said supporting-member.

4. The method of making a self-alignin device having a tube with a bearing sea therein so as to be capable of rocking on its seat under a self-ali 'ng action, which consists in providinga arm havin a spherically shaped periphery an then orcing the same into a tube of smaller here than the diameter of said periphery of the bearing so as to expand the wall of the tube and form upon its interior a seat for said bearing to rock in.

5. The method of making a self-aligning device having a self-lubricating bushing inserted in the bore of a su porting-member made of harder material t an the bushing and disposed in a seat within the tube which consists in providing a bushing of self-lubricating material and inserting the device having a tube with a bearing seated therein so as to be ca able of rocking on its seat under self-alignmg action, which consists in providing a bearin havin a spherically shaped periphery an then orcing the same into a tube of less interior diameter than the diameter of the periphery of said member so as to dilate the tube wall and form therein a seat for said bearing to rock in and causing in its seat by the tension of said dilated portion of the tube.

Signed at borough of Middlesex, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, this 30th day of September, A. D. 16

CARL CLAUS.

said bearing to be retained in 

